Mahābhūtaghaṭa Mantra

Mahābhūtaghaṭa Mantra · mahā-bhūta-ghaṭa mantra, “the mantra of the jar of the great elements”

The Mahābhūtaghaṭa mantra is the two-verse mantra recited at the gift of the Mahābhūtaghaṭa, the golden jar of the great elements. Śrī Kṛshṇa gives it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, as part of the gift that destroys the mahāpātakas.

The setting

On a puṇya day a kumbha of gold is made with ratnas, from one prādeśa up to a hundred aṅgulas in size and from five to a hundred palas in weight. It is filled with milk and ghee, with the Kalpavṛksha beside it. Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara are established on padmāsanas, the lokapālas with their vāhanas, and the Vedas as images: Ṛgveda with an akshasūtra, Yajurveda with a lotus, Sāmaveda with a vīṇā, Atharvaveda with a sruk and garland, and the Purāṇa, the fifth Veda, with akshasūtra, kamaṇḍalu and the varada-mudrā. Round the jar are set the seven grains, sandals, shoes, an umbrella, a cāmara and a bed. At an auspicious muhūrta the giver bathes, makes three pradakshiṇās and recites the mantra.

The mantra

The meaning, as the text gives it: “Since there is nothing in this world without the Mahābhūtas, and all is made of the Mahābhūtas, may this jar made of the Mahābhūtas give me śānti.”

The second verse, as printed:

अत्र संनिहिता देवा: स्थापिता विश्वकर्मणा।
ते मे शान्तिं प्रयच्छन्तु भक्तिभावेन पूजिताः॥

atra saṃnihitā devā: sthāpitā viśvakarmaṇā|
te me śāntiṃ prayacchantu bhaktibhāvena pūjitāḥ||

All the devas are established in it by Viśvakarmā; worshipped with bhakti, may they give me śānti.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 183

The phala

The jar is given to a brāhmaṇa at a puṇya time with cloth and ornaments. One who gives the jar by this rule goes to Śivaloka with twenty-one generations. When the puṇya is spent he comes to this world as a dhārmika king, unconquerable, valiant, learned, and a bhakta of the devas and brāhmaṇas.

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 183